HMCo #496s Spook

Particulars

Construction_Record_Title.jpgName: Spook
Later Name(s): Runaway Girl (ca1900-)
Type: Fin Keel
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1898-6
Launch: 1898-7-1
Construction: Wood
LOA: 22' 6" (6.86m)
LWL: 14' 6" (4.42m)
Beam: 4' 7" (1.40m)
Draft: 3' 8" (1.12m)
Rig: Gaff Sloop
Keel: FK
Ballast: Lead
Built for: Herreshoff, Francis Lee
Amount: N/A
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: Moulds of #457. F.L.H. [Francis Lee Herreshoff], NY [sp?], Runaway Girl [?]. In 1934 belonged to David Crampton Belleville N.J.
Last reported: 1934 (aged 36)

Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.


Model

Model #6Model number: 6
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room East Wall

Vessels from this model:
12 built, modeled by NGH
#442s Houri (1894)
#443s Adelaide (1894)
#444s Vaquero I (1894)
#445s Dorothy (1894)
#446s Alerion II (1894)
#447s Celia (1894)
#453s Vaquero II (1895)
#454s Lagopa [Lagofa] (1895)
#457s Osprey (1895)
#458s Mist (1895)
#478s [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel] (1896)
#496s Spook (1898)

Original text on model:
"21' WL of 1894 (No. 442, 443, 444, 445, 447 28' 446 ALERION 2 scale)
1895 (28' WL 453 VAQUERO 15" scale ________ 12" scale, 454 LAGODA 19' 6", No. 457 OSPREY 15' 7" WL,
1896 458 27' WL, 478 15'7" WL 1/2 RATER" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model Description:
"#442 Houri, 21' lwl fin-keel sloop of 1894. Also used for #443 Adelaide, #444 Vaquero, #445 Dorothy, #447 Ceila, and with scale change for #446 Alerion, 28' lwl of 1894, #453 Vaquero II, 26' lwl of 1895, #495 Lagofa, 19'6" lwl of 1895, #457 Osprey, 14'5" lwl of 1895, #458 Mist, 27' lwl of 1895, and #478, 14'5" lwl half-rater of 1896." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)

Model Comment:
"Reference to model no. 6 was added by CvdL because Spook was built on the moulds of #457s Osprey which in turn was built from model 6." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. 2008.)

Related model(s):
Model 1109 by NGH? (1897?); sail, not built
{?}: Fin Keel???


Note: Vessels that appear in the records as not built, a cancelled contract, a study model, or as a model sailboat are listed but not counted in the list of vessels built from a model.


Drawings

Explore all drawings relating to this boat.

List of drawings:
   Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
   HMCo #496s Spook are listed in bold.
   Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
  1. Dwg 060-031 (HH.5.04254): Fin Keel (1895-07-20)
  2. Dwg 064-032 (HH.5.04508): Rudder for # 457 (1895-07-23)
  3. Dwg 127-053 (HH.5.09921): Sails > No. 496 (1898 ?)
  4. Dwg 130-057 (HH.5.10360): Sails > # 496 for Francis L.H. Spook Runaway Girl (ca. 1898)
Source: Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Together with: Hasselbalch, Kurt with Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin. Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997. Together with: Numerous additions and corrections by Claas van der Linde.
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.

Documents

Nathanael G. Herreshoff

"[1898-07-01] Fri 1: Fog last night. Very hot with wind ch[anging] to NW in p.m. Launched #496 [Spook], Francis L. H[erreshoff]'s fin keel.
[1898-07-02] Sat 2: Very fine & warm. Mod[erate]N & SW [wind]. Francis [L. Herreshoff, owner of #496s Spook] here. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1898. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

Other Contemporary Text Source(s)

"... A twenty-one foot knockabout is being built at the Herreshoff yards, at Bristol, for Frank [sic] Herreshoff, who lives in New-York. The planking is almost completed, and the fin and lead bulb are ready. ..." (Source: Anon. "The Craft And Those Who Sail Them." New York Tribune, June 29, 1898, p. 5.)

"The 12th annual open regatta of the Rhode Island Yacht Club was held Wednesday [August 26, 1898] off the club house at Pawtuxet and was a success in every way. Fall River and Bristol boats were well represented. In the second division, 20-foot class, sloops or cutters, the Bristol boats entered were Miss Flossie DeWolfs Kildee [#460s] and F. L. Herreshoff's Spook [#496s]. Steam yachts Eugenia [#182p] and Squib [#188p] went up from Bristol with parties on board to see Miss DeWolf and the Herreshoff boy sail their boats They were in the same class and sailed well. The Spook beat Miss DeWolf's Kildee on time allowance, although the latter crossed the line first. The distance sailed was 12 miles." (Source: Anon. "Rhode Island Yacht Club Regatta." Bristol Phoenix, August 26, 1898, p. 3.)

Archival Documents

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled dimensioned sketch with a sail cutting plan titled 'Spin[naker] #496 [SPOOK] of finest Berkeley'. Undated, SPOOK was built in June 1898." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Penciled Sketch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0457. WRDT08, Folder 37, formerly MRDE09. No date (1898-06 ??).)


Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #496s Spook even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.


Registers

1900 Manning's Yacht Register (#1615)
Name: Runaway Girl
Owner: Wm. G. Low, Jr.; Club(s): 25, 59; Port: Bristol, R.I.
Type & Rig Fin K[eel] J. & M. [Jib & Mainsail]
LOA 22.6; LWL 15.2; Extr. Beam 4.6; Draught 4.0
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1898 July

1901 Manning's Yacht Register (#1647)
Name: Runaway Girl
Owner: Wm. G. Low, Jr.; Club(s): 25, 59; Port: Bristol, R.I.
Type & Rig Fin K[eel] J. & M. [Jib & Mainsail]
LOA 22.6; LWL 15.2; Extr. Beam 4.6; Draught 4.0
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1898 July

Source: Various Yacht Lists and Registers. For complete biographical information see the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné under Data Sources. Note that this section shows only snapshots in time and should not be considered a provenance, although it can help creating one.

Supplement

From the 1920 and earlier HMCo Index Cards at the MIT Museum
  • Note: The vessel index cards comprise two sets of a total of some 3200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and information regarding drawings, later or former vessel names, and owners. They were compiled from HMCo's early days until 1920 and added to in later decades, apparently by Hart Nautical curator William A. Baker and his successors. While HMCo seems to have used only one set of index cards, all sorted by name and, where no name was available, by number, later users at MIT apparently divided them into two sets of cards, one sorted by vessel name, the other by vessel number and greatly expanded the number of cards. Original HMCo cards are usually lined and almost always punched with a hole at bottom center while later cards usually have no hole, are unlined, and often carry substantially less information. All cards are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass.
From the 1931 HMCo-published Owner's List

Name: Spook
Type: J & M
Length: 14'
Owner: Herreshoff, F. L.

Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. "A Partial List of Herreshoff Clients." In: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Herreshoff Yachts. Bristol, Rhode Island, ca. 1931.

From the 1930s L. Francis Herreshoff Index Cards at the Herreshoff Marine Museum
  • Note: The L. Francis Herreshoff index cards comprise a set of some 1200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and / or ownership information. Apparently compiled in the early 1930s, for later HMCo-built boats like the Fishers Island 23s or the Northeast Harbor 30s are not included. Added to in later decades, apparently by L. F. Herreshoff as well as his long-time secretary Muriel Vaughn and others. Also 46 cards of L. F. Herreshoff-designed vessels. The original set of index cards is held by the Herreshoff Marine Museum and permission to display is gratefully acknowledged.
From the 1953 HMCo Owner's List by L. Francis Herreshoff

Name: Spook
Type: 16' J & M
Owner: Francis Lee Herreshoff
Row No.: 647

Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. "Partial List of Herreshoff-Built Boats." In: Herreshoff, L. Francis. Capt. Nat Herreshoff. The Wizard of Bristol. New York, 1953, p. 325-343.

From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray

Month: June
Year: 1898
E/P/S: S
No.: 0496
Name: Spook
LW: 14' 5"
B: 4' 7"
D: 3' 8"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead
Notes Constr. Record: Moulds of 457. F.L.H. [obsc.] Running Girl. In 1934 belonged to David Crompton, Belleville, N. J.
Last Name: Herreshoff
First Name: F. L.

Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.

Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.

Research Note(s)

"LOA 22-6ft from Manning's Yacht Register." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 3, 2023.)

Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.

Note

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Citation: HMCo #496s Spook. Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné. https://herreshoff.info/Docs/S00496_Spook.htm.